After a less-than-pleasant night, the ANBU squad set out on the return journey before dawn.
After several days on the road, Zou Hyuga finally caught sight of Kage Rock in the distance and breathed a sigh of relief. Outside the village, all sorts of inexplicable mishaps always seemed to crop up.
After submitting his mission report, Zou Hyuga returned home and took out his Experiment Log.
During those days of travel, he had slipped away more than once to meet the test subjects he had stationed elsewhere.
After meeting several test subjects, he reached a conclusion: through repeated experiments and refinements, ordinary people could now withstand his natural chakra and use it as a basis for performing ninjutsu.
In other words, he could mass-produce ninja in batches. They might be weaker than even Ninja Academy students, and their shortcomings would become apparent the moment they fought.
Still, this gave him his first glimpse of hope for building a force of his own. With its support, he could accomplish far more, perhaps even establish a shinobi village.
After spending several weeks drawing up a plan, Zou Hyuga accepted numerous missions and traveled throughout the Land of Fire to recruit useful talent.
All of this was done in secret. Even Oto Uchiha knew very little about it.
It was not a matter of trust. Knowing too much would not do Oto any good.
While he traveled across the Land of Fire on missions, Oto also became more active within the Uchiha clan. During their few meetings, she expressed her dissatisfaction with her clansmen.
Oto was beginning to care about her clan. Zou Hyuga smiled knowingly and gradually began paying attention to developments within his own clan and the village.
One thing worth noting was that the people whose names had left a